Suspected dealer arrested in fentanyl bust

February 21, 2018News Extra

JACKSON TWP — Hundreds of bags of a suspected deadly synthetic opioid were seized Tuesday during a drug sting by state narcotics agents, authorities said.

Officers with the Attorney General's Office Drug Task Force arrested Warren Carl Smith Jr., 25, of Pittsburgh, who was found with bags of suspected pure fentanyl — enough to make about 400 individual-dose stamp bags.

He was arrested about 3:40 p.m. at the Park 'n Ride at Interstate 79 and Route 528 in Jackson Township.

Smith is charged with drug trafficking and is being held in Butler County Prison on $100,000 bail.

He was the target of a controlled buy conducted by Cranberry Township police Sgt. Detective Matthew Irvin, who was working with the attorney general's Bureau of Narcotics and other task force officers, court documents said.

A confidential informant was also used in the operation.

The informant by cell phone, according to investigators, arranged with Smith a not-so-ordinary deal: 400 stamp bags of fentanyl along with crack cocaine in exchange for a pound of marijuana.

The two agreed to make the swap at the Park 'n Ride.

With officers nearby conducting surveillance, authorities said, Smith drove up in a red Hyundai sedan and parked next to the informant's vehicle.

Moments later, officers converged on Smith and his car.

Irvin, in his criminal complaint, described finding Smith with numerous stamp bags filled with a white powder substance believed to be fentanyl. The glassine bags were contained within 23 larger bags.